A chaotic first-person looter shooter RPG where you battle a ruthless tyrant across the planet Kairos with billions of wild weapons and dynamic movement abilities.

Borderlands 4 Guides | GAM3S.GG

Borderlands 4 Release Date Confirmed

Borderlands 4 arrives September 12 for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch 2, and PC. Learn about the new Vault challenge mode, gameplay mechanics, story setting, and character features.

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Borderlands 4 Release Date

Borderlands 4 launches September 12, with early PC access on September 11. The series nears 100 million sales as fans discuss performance, system requirements, and pre-launch momentum.

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Borderlands 4

<h2>Overview</h2>
<p>Borderlands 4 represents the next evolution in Gearbox Software's beloved looter-shooter franchise, taking players to Kairos, a diverse alien world under the iron grip of a dictator known as the Timekeeper. The game builds upon the series' foundation of frenetic gunplay, outlandish characters, and an almost absurd variety of procedurally generated weapons while introducing revolutionary movement mechanics that fundamentally transform combat. Players select from four new Vault Hunters, each with unique Action Skills and extensive skill trees that allow for deep character customization and varied playstyles.</p>
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<p>The stakes have never been higher as a world-altering catastrophe threatens the Timekeeper's perfect Order, unleashing mayhem across Kairos. This narrative setup creates the perfect backdrop for Borderlands' signature blend of over-the-top action, irreverent humor, and compelling progression systems. The game maintains the series' distinctive cel-shaded art style while pushing visual boundaries with more detailed environments and character models. Whether playing solo or with up to three friends in seamless online co-op, Borderlands 4 delivers the quintessential looter-shooter experience with meaningful innovations that respect the franchise's legacy.</p>
<h2>What Makes Movement Revolutionary in Borderlands 4?</h2>
<p>Borderlands 4 transforms how players navigate and engage in combat with an unprecedented suite of movement abilities that dramatically increase tactical options. For the first time in the series, Vault Hunters can:</p>
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<ul><li>Double jump to reach new heights</li><li>Glide across expansive gaps</li><li>Dodge incoming attacks with quick evasive maneuvers</li><li>Grapple to distant points for rapid repositioning</li><li>Combine movements for complex combat strategies</li></ul>
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<p>This enhanced mobility system doesn't just make traversal more engaging—it fundamentally alters combat encounters. Players can now attack from any angle, creating opportunities for vertical ambushes, mid-air precision shots, and creative environmental interactions. The movement mechanics seamlessly integrate with each Vault Hunter's unique Action Skills, allowing for devastating ability combinations that weren't possible in previous entries. This evolution represents the most significant gameplay advancement in the franchise's history, giving players unprecedented freedom in how they approach each firefight.</p>
<h2>Weapons and Progression</h2>
<p>The heart of Borderlands has always been its insane arsenal, and Borderlands 4 doubles down on this legacy with billions of procedurally generated weapons featuring wildly varied effects, elemental properties, and manufacturer-specific quirks. The game introduces new weapon types, firing modes, and legendary gear that push the boundaries of what's possible in a first-person shooter.</p>
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<p>Progression has been refined with deeper skill trees that offer meaningful choices at every level. Each of the four Vault Hunters features three distinct skill branches, allowing players to specialize in specific playstyles or create hybrid builds that combine different tactical approaches. The Action Skills—signature abilities unique to each character—can now be modified and enhanced through skill investments, creating exponentially more build possibilities than previous titles.</p>
<p>Complementing the traditional level-based progression is a robust gear system featuring weapons, shields, class mods, artifacts, and the new ECHO-4 drone companions that provide passive bonuses and can be customized with various skins. The endgame loot chase remains compelling with tiered rarity systems and special legendary items that can completely transform how a character plays.</p>
<h2>The World of Kairos</h2>
<p>Kairos represents Borderlands' most seamless and diverse world to date, featuring sprawling environments that range from lush fields and towering mountain ranges to desolate deserts and futuristic cityscapes. The planet is home to warring factions, each with their own territories, motivations, and relationships to the tyrannical Timekeeper.</p>
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<p>Unlike previous Borderlands games that featured more segmented areas, Kairos offers a more connected experience with fewer loading screens and more organic transitions between regions. Players can traverse this expansive world on customizable hover bikes, encountering dynamic events, engaging side quests, and memorable characters that flesh out the game's narrative and setting.</p>
<p>The environmental storytelling has been enhanced with more interactive elements and background details that reveal the history of Kairos and its inhabitants. Hidden areas reward exploration with unique loot, challenging encounters, and pieces of lore that provide context for the ongoing conflict between the revolutionary forces and the Timekeeper's regime.</p>
<h2>How Does Co-op Play Enhance the Experience?</h2>
<p>Borderlands 4 is designed from the ground up as a cooperative experience, though it remains entirely enjoyable for solo players. The 4-player online co-op features sophisticated level scaling and individual difficulty settings that ensure players of different levels can enjoy the game together without frustration.</p>
<p>The cooperative systems have been refined to address longstanding player feedback. Loot instancing gives each player their own drops, eliminating the need to compete for resources, while maintaining an option for classic shared loot for traditionalists. Quest progression is tracked for all participants, and the game introduces new co-op-specific mechanics that encourage teamwork and coordination between different Vault Hunter classes.</p>
<p>Perhaps most importantly, cross-play functionality (requiring a SHiFT account) allows friends to play together regardless of platform, uniting the Borderlands community across PC, Xbox, and PlayStation. The seamless drop-in/drop-out functionality means players can join friends' games at any time without disrupting the experience.</p>
<table><tr><th>Requirement</th><th>Minimum</th><th>Recommended</th></tr><tr><td>OS</td><td>Windows 10 / Windows 11</td><td>Windows 10 / Windows 11</td></tr><tr><td>Processor</td><td>Intel Core i7-9700 / AMD Ryzen 7 2700X</td><td>Intel Core i7-12700 / AMD Ryzen 7 5800X</td></tr><tr><td>Memory</td><td>16 GB RAM</td><td>32 GB RAM</td></tr><tr><td>Graphics</td><td>NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 / AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT</td><td>NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 / AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT</td></tr><tr><td>Storage</td><td>100 GB available space</td><td>100 GB available space</td></tr></table>
<h2>Final Thoughts</h2>
<p>Borderlands 4 stands as both a love letter to longtime fans and an excellent entry point for newcomers to the franchise. By maintaining the series' core identity—outrageous weapons, irreverent humor, and addictive loot progression—while introducing transformative movement mechanics and a more seamless world, Gearbox has created the most refined looter-shooter experience in the franchise's history. </p>
<p>The planet Kairos offers countless hours of exploration, combat, and character development across its varied landscapes, whether tackled solo or with friends. With its distinctive art style, deep customization options, and frenetic gameplay, Borderlands 4 delivers exactly what the series does best: controlled chaos with a side of mayhem.</p>

Craving explosive action and an arsenal that defies imagination? Borderlands 4 hurls players into the war-torn planet of Kairos, dominated by the tyrannical Timekeeper. As one of four new Vault Hunters with customizable skill trees and revolutionary movement mechanics, you'll harness devastating Action Skills to spark a revolution. With billions of procedurally generated weapons and seamless 4-player co-op, the iconic mayhem of Borderlands reaches unprecedented heights.

Story lacks impact, with a weak villain and muted supporting cast

Open-world scale sometimes leads to filler and repetitive encounters

Humor and pacing feel uneven, never quite recapturing past highs

<p>Borderlands 4 feels like a course correction, steering the series back on track after Borderlands 3’s divisive reception. The first thing you notice is how good it feels to play. Gunplay has always been the core of the series, and here it is at its strongest. Weapons are more varied and imaginative, with a tighter focus on making each one feel unique rather than overwhelming players with endless but forgettable drops. </p>
<p>The new traversal mechanics—gliding, grappling, and wall-running—do not just add mobility, they expand how combat arenas function. Fights are faster, more vertical, and more flexible, letting players experiment with different approaches in ways the series never truly supported before.</p>
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<h2>Gameplay</h2>
<p>The Vault Hunters benefit from this design shift too. Each of the four has a defined style that feels immediately distinct, but what makes them stand out is how viable they remain across the campaign. Whether you lean into solo play or join up in co-op, there is no “wrong choice,” and the skill trees are broad enough to encourage genuine experimentation. Builds are easier to respec and tune on the fly, so you are constantly adjusting based on the loot you find and the encounters you face. Combined with the much-improved loot balance, this creates a feedback loop where combat, discovery, and progression feed naturally into one another.</p>
<p>Kairos, the new setting, is both one of the game’s biggest strengths and one of its weak points. The shift to a more seamless, open world gives the adventure a stronger sense of scope, and when it works, it feels like a true playground. Exploration is rewarding, with side quests tucked into corners, environmental puzzles, and enemy strongholds that push you to adapt your loadout. But the sheer size of the world often works against it. Filler quests and respawning mobs stretch out playtime without adding much to the experience, and after a while, the loop of “clear area, collect loot, move to the next” starts to feel padded. This pacing problem is more noticeable later in the campaign, when new enemy types stop appearing and recycled encounters replace the excitement of discovery.</p>
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<p>Storytelling, however, is where Borderlands 4 stumbles most. After the loud and divisive villains of Borderlands 3, Gearbox takes a safer, more subdued route. The Timekeeper is built up as a mysterious force manipulating events, and while his presence is intriguing, he never becomes the kind of villain you look forward to confronting. He feels more functional than memorable. </p>
<p>The supporting cast also lacks spark. Claptrap’s toned-down role avoids some of the grating humor of the past, but it also makes him feel muted. Returning faces are scattered too thin to carry the narrative weight, and the new resistance fighters often fall into forgettable archetypes. The writing is still peppered with jokes and absurd moments, but it struggles to balance humor with momentum, leaving the campaign feeling uneven.</p>
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<h2>Review</h2>
<p>Still, Borderlands 4 is undeniably fun when judged by its moment-to-moment play. Few shooters can match the satisfaction of tearing through hordes of enemies with a perfectly tuned build and stumbling onto loot that changes how you approach your next fight. Co-op remains a highlight, and Gearbox continues to refine how scaling works so that different level players can jump in without breaking progression. Even with its weaker story and occasional bloat, the loop of combat and loot-chasing carries the game further than its narrative shortcomings would suggest.</p>
<p>Borderlands 4 may not reinvent the franchise, but it represents a steadying hand. It trims away some of the excess that weighed down Borderlands 3, while improving core systems to remind players why the series carved out its niche in the first place. It is not flawless, but for those who value the blend of chaotic gunplay and loot-driven progression, it delivers enough to keep the series relevant in an increasingly crowded shooter space.</p>

Traversal upgrades freshen combat and exploration

Loot balance encourages meaningful builds

Co-op remains smooth and accessible with smart scaling

In-depth, unbiased, and honest Borderlands 4 Review by GAM3S.GG. Find out more about gameplay, how to get started, and our review score.

Borderlands 4

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